The prototype, which has performed very well these past months, is pine. The new version is mahogany, a harder wood that I appreciate more and more and I learn to work it. There will be a new home for the prototype. And no, not the burn pile.

The spacing is perfect so it will, if nothing else, persist as a pattern.

It occurs to me that without a tail vise, I probably need a sticking board for these types of tasks. I did devise a way to hold down the work to cut the rabbets, involving a scrap of wood, some sandpaper backed plywood and a holdfast. So, basically, a sticking board.

Doing this project showed me that fine, cross-grain shavings may bind in the throat of the plane. I’ve looked at other examples, though, and the throat size doesn’t seem to be drastically out of the norm.